


the way is seldom clear

by LadyKG



Series: the wolves and the ravens [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Fix-It, Happy Ending, M/M, Obito is sort of losing his mind, Time Travel, a sort of 'what-if', but - Freeform, but not really, i guess, it is connected to By dawn we'll have our Wings, just FYI, not really any worse than canon, or - Freeform, this can stand on its own, this is pre-slash, you do not have to read that first
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:35:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21659893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKG/pseuds/LadyKG
Summary: How could he possibly face Rin after this? How could he possibly hope to face her and say ‘look, I’m trying, I’m doing better’, when he hadn’t even killed Zetsu?ORthe one where Obito gets thrown into a different dimension and time and decides to save the world...OR (for those of you who have read By dawn we’ll have our Wings)What if Obito doesn’t go to Konoha after he kills Madara?*this work can stand on its own, you don't have to read BDWHOW to understand it
Relationships: Hatake Sakumo/Uchiha Obito, pre-slash only though
Series: the wolves and the ravens [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/807327
Comments: 10
Kudos: 562





	the way is seldom clear

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to point out that this can definitely stand as its own fic, and you do not have to read BDWHOW in order to follow it. It was originally going to be part of the ‘By Dawn Extras’ spin-off I’m planning, but then it kept getting longer and longer and really started to come into itself and so now it’s its own fic. Also would like to point out that ‘the way is seldom clear’ was actually the original planned title for By dawn when I was first thinking about the idea… so using that here seems a bit poetic almost.

Obito stared at the flak jacket in his hands, idly picking at the threads that had come lose after the clone put its hand through him. It was ruined. That much was obvious. The clone had managed to make him bleed quite a bit with that attack and now the jacket Sakumo had given him was _ruined_ with his blood.

(There was no way he could give it back to the man now. What would he even say? _‘Oh, here’s the jacket you let me borrow because when I was shoved out of the pureland by my dead teammate I was half-naked still. I’m sorry it got ruined, but I killed Uchiha Madara and stole a statue that the spawn of a goddess plans to use to destroy the world in the fight._

Not happening.)

The blood had dried since then – not that he really expected it to stay wet forever, but the darker brownish-red of it looked far less appealing. He’d never really given much thought to the color of blood before. At least not in terms of liking any particular shade of it. But sitting here in his dimension it was the only thing he could really bring himself to focus on.

If not this, then he would need to think about how he would need to approach Nagato differently. Think about how he would make Yagura more susceptible to his plans. Think about what other nations he may need to turn to. May need to manipulate. Think about how much longer he’d need to keep playing that fool persona and put on that orange mask.

All because he’d failed to kill Zetsu.

It made him want to scream.

Instead, he sat there, one leg tucked under him while the other was pulled up against his chest so he could rest his cheek on his knee. Instead, he sat there, the flak jacket that Sakumo – the _white fang,_ Kakashi’s _father_ – gave him sitting by his side. Instead, he sat there, picking at the dried blood and lose threads of the hole a white-zetsu clone had created.

He took a deep breath.

How could he possibly face Rin after this? How could he possibly hope to face her and say _‘look, I’m trying, I’m doing better’_ , when he hadn’t even killed _Zetsu_?

He couldn’t.

Couldn’t face her, or Minato-sensei, or Kushina, or Kakashi.

Couldn’t return to Konoha.

He took another breath.

No. No, he couldn’t return until he’d sent that creature into another dimension. Not until he’d ensured that the moon-eye plan would well and truly never come to pass. Not until he planted the seeds of peace and treaties between nations. Not until he made sure that no child would have to face the horrors of war again.

He breathed out through his nose and rose to his feet. He’d need a plan, and a network.

With Kiri and Ame already in the works that left plenty of options for where to start. Konoha was perhaps his best bet if he wanted to get there before Sakumo brought word of his encounter with a strange shinobi. But, if Obito was thinking about that practically, it would hardly matter whether he approached the Sandaime before or after – either way the man would have his suspicions, and the likelihood of him drawing parallels between the two was slim. (And if he truly just wanted an excuse to avoid going to Konoha so soon… well, only he had to know. Even if it wasn’t _returning,_ it was close enough that the thought made his face twist around the sour taste it left behind.)

Taki, perhaps. Because as a smaller nation the building tensions along the borders would be affecting them the greatest, and perhaps he would be able to work that in his favor. Or, he thought, maybe heading to into Wind Country would be best. With Suna… well, Sasori was still there and if he was being honest it would probably be best to keep an eye on all the Akatsuki members. Perhaps he’d even be able to get Kakuzu to work with him if he offered the man enough money.

And _that_ was another issue, wasn’t it?

He was all but broke in this time period. Even if he’d stored money in this dimension it was mostly in newer bills and not nearly enough to pay off _Kakuzu_ of all people.

He’d need to take odd jobs, then, he decided. Smaller ones in small towns and trading posts that would be ripe with gossip and lacking in shinobi strong enough to see through one of his genjutsu. That would at least get him enough money to buy food and bribe information out of people. Bounty-hunting, too, could work, especially if he used a genjutsu to hide his identity and keep from making a name for himself.

With this in mind he drew up his chakra, threw one last glance at the ruined flak jacket, and let kamui swallow him.

He landed in a back-alley of Suna and wasted no time in layering himself in a genjutsu – he would need to buy some local clothes soon, but this would have to do for now. Unlike the other nations, he knew practically _nothing_ about the third Kazekage. At least with Yagura and Nagato he could guess at what made them tick. But here? It was best to lay low for a while, gather information on when _exactly_ he’d landed, and what the political situation was like before making his move.

Which consequently meant he’d also be better off getting a small job somewhere.

He worked his way through a handful of different shops and restaurants before someone pointed him in the direction of a little tea shop that was hiring. Getting the job was far too easy with a bit of genjutsu that made the owner think he had the proper working papers, and so he left the shop with demands that he return the next day at dawn to start working. Which, consequently, gave him enough time to slip down alleys and through a few civilian homes to steal some clothes. It was easier to maintain a genjutsu to hide his scars and hair than it would be to change his clothes as well – if someone touched it and actually paid enough attention they’d notice it wasn’t quite right. He wasn’t willing to risk that.

Obito spent two weeks working in the little tea shop, gathering information. Apparently Suna was facing a dry-season, and so crops weren’t producing the way they should. With the tensions on the borders that meant that they also weren’t getting as many merchants or trading for as good a price as normal. Really, Obito couldn’t have asked for a more perfect in if he _wanted_ to.

(He also truly enjoyed the opportunity to pour tea over his least favorite customer in order to get fired.)

It didn’t take a lot to sneak into the Kazekage’s office in the early morning. The ANBU were practically asleep on their feet for all that they were supposed to be the best the village had to offer. It was laughable.

The Third followed not long after, taking a seat at his desk and starting to work through the stacks of paperwork piling over it. Tobi waited another minute, watching the man go through the motions of his morning, before slipping from the shadows and through the window. He didn’t bother to be subtle about it all. To be honest, he was surprised the ANBU even noticed in time to keep him from making it more than a step into the room.

The Kage’s gaze snapped up, face a mask of neutrality even as he rose to his feet and the ANBU that had swarmed him pressed their blades more firmly into his vital points. One in particular dared to rest against his throat, and he let it. If only because he knew they wouldn’t be able to kill him – if a literal goddess hadn’t managed then how did this second-rate ANBU think they would. Not that anyone else _knew_ that, really.

Still, he put on the act of the fool, let his persona slip over him as easily as his mask did. “Ah, what a warm welcome.” He brought his hand up in a mockery of surrender, or as up as he could considering the slight movement had the ANBU tensing. “I just wanted to chat!”

The Third’s expression didn’t change, his gaze flat but calculating, and Tobi would have said he was impressed if he’d never met Sasori – the puppet’s face _never_ showed emotion. “Who are you?”

“Tobi,” he said, “I’m here to talk.”

“Yes, you said that.” The Third didn’t move, and definitely didn’t seem particularly interested in what he had to say, but the ANBU hadn’t tried to kill him yet and so Tobi counted that as something of encouragement to explain further.

“Well, I thought we could make a deal,” he hummed, letting kamui make him intangible as he took several more steps in the room. The reaction of the ANBU was instantaneous – it seemed there was hope for them yet – they moved to strike. One going for his head while a few other aimed for his chest and stomach. All of their blades moved through him.

The smile that he wore behind his mask was not a nice one.

“You see,” he said, rocking on his heels as the ANBU backed away slightly, the Kage finally giving them the order to stand back, “there this little _pest_ that I’m trying to kill, and I think that you can help me find him.”

“Pest?”

Tobi hummed, letting himself become tangible once more, if only to settle into the chair in front of the desk. A show of strength and assurance in his own skill. A show of his lack of care at the threat they present. The Third followed the motion but otherwise did not react, his ANBU shifting to accommodate for Tobi’s new position. “Zetsu. A creature that intends to destroy the elemental nations.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“I do,” Tobi said with a tilt of his head. “You’ll discover its truth eventually anyway. Zetsu will come to you and you’ll either die or be made into his pawn.”

Surprisingly enough it was _this_ statement that earned him a physical reaction, the man’s eyes narrowing, a spark of anger becoming obvious in their depths, “I am no one’s pawn.”

“Good, good,” he said, holding his hand out as if to shake, although the ANBU in the way made the affect less impactful, “then we can make a deal! I want Zetsu, and your village needs food, so why don’t we work together, hm?”

“Who says we need food?”

His hand fell back, and he slumped as if pouting, “Come now, Kage-chan, you think I would come to our little date unprepared?” He let out a dramatic sigh, “Suna’s in an unexpected dry-season, and with the tension on the borders that means you’re not getting the trades that you used to.”

“And you can provide that?” The Third asked, his tone condescending.

“Yes,” he said, holding out a hand, palm up. “You see, my little pest did something _interesting_ to me, back when we were… acquainted.” A small, little sprout twisted and grew until a fat, ripe tomato could be plucked from the stem.

“Konoha,” the Third concluded, the ANBU around him taking a step towards Tobi.

“Hardly,” he snorted. “Mokuton may have belonged to the first Hokage, but that didn’t stop Zetsu from using the last of Hashirama’s cells to turn me into… _this._ ” He made sure to spit out the word the same way one would say demon or bastard. Monster. (They weren’t the last of the cells, he knew, but the Kazekage didn’t need to, especially considering he’d destroy the remaining vials that he knew Orochimaru had. Thus, really, the statement would be true soon enough.)

The Third narrowed his eyes, gaze considering. “If this Zetsu gave you such power, why do you want to kill them?”

Tobi laughed, high and hysterical and too far gone to be anything other than _insane._ “You said it yourself, I’m no one’s pawn.”

He left Suna after another week of re-growing their fields and gardens. After a week of providing them food and underhanded threats to their Kage about coming through on his word to keep him informed about Zetsu.

Tobi left without a second glance back.

Perhaps revealing his mokuton wasn’t the _best_ of ideas. But it got him what he wanted, and it also meant that Zetsu would be interested enough to perhaps try and find him in return.

He headed to Taki next, and then Iwa after before he caught wind of Kakuzu’s whereabouts and started to try and track the bounty-hunter down. It wouldn’t due him any good to only focus on the villages, after all. And with already two months gone by and still no progress he could fairly accurately say that it, in fact, wouldn’t work to his favor. He’d gone back to Ame and Kiri, Suna too. But they’d been no help, and Yagura was already demanding he do him favors in return.

So who could really blame him for wanting something of a break? Who could really blame him for, for once, not expending his chakra on kamui and actually moving from town to town like a normal shinobi would? It allowed him to pick up more rumors about the growing tensions; let him determine just how long he had until the war started officially.

It also, apparently, gave him the opportunity to run into Tsunade of all people, interestingly enough. For the briefest of moments he considered that this would mean luck was running in his favor – Tsunade would be a prime target for Zetsu. She was alone, and bitter at the hidden villages, at the world, and lost in a depression about the loss of those she loved. The perfect target, really. And, thus, the perfect target for him to try and bring under his network of Zetsu-tracking spies.

“What do you want?” Are the first words out of her mouth after he introduced himself, and all Tobi can do is grin.

But luck, as he should have guessed, really wasn’t in his favor, because in that moment non-other than the same team he’d encountered when he landed in this time walked through the door of the bar. They could very well be here looking for Tsunade, he reasoned. A reason that was immediately dashed by the surprise that flickered over their faces when they noticed the slug sannin.

“Seems like we’ll need to cut this short,” the woman sighed out, clearly also expecting they were here for her.

Tobi was tempted to flee. Tempted to let kamui swallow him, but he was also so very curious as to what they were doing here. If it was for him, he would at least like to know why before he left.

“Lady Tsunade.”

“Sakumo. Kushina. Tsume.”

“We weren’t expecting to run into you,” Sakumo started, which only earned him a snort from the women – which, fair. “But since you’re here, Hokage-sama has requested your presence.”

“You can tell sensei he can shove that request-.”

“How about a bet,” Kushina cut in, all bright smiles and fiery hair.

“A bet.”

Kushina hummed, rocking on her heels before her eyes locked on Tobi. He wasn’t sure he liked where this was going. “If you can get his mask off in the next minute, we’ll leave you alone. If not, you return to Konoha.”

He really didn’t like where this was going. If he had his identity revealed here…

“Deal.”

Shit.

It was fine, Obito told himself, picking at the lose threads of the ruined flak jacket. Tsunade being in Konoha meant that they’d be better off in the coming war, and it also gave Rin the opportunity to learn under her. It was _fine._ Completely fine. Just like that fact that Sakumo, Kushina, and Tsume were apparently tasked with hunting him down.

He was also completely fine with the fact that Sakumo had called him _Obito._

Really.

Completely fine.

He took a breath and rose to his feet; he still needed to find Kakuzu.

Tobi found him a few days later in a bar. Kakuzu was seated in the corner booth at the back, and Tobi had been spending the last twenty minutes debating on the best way to approach his mark. Only, just as he was about to make his move he caught sight of silver hair – _Kakashi,_ something in him whispered – and then Hatake Sakumo was sitting across from him.

His chakra rose on instinct, hand going towards his kunai pouch, but Sakumo merely raised his hands in a placating gesture his chakra a sea of calm.

“There’s no need for that, Obito.”

He narrowed his eyes, that wasn’t his name right now. “Tobi,” he corrected, because the orange mask was still firmly in place and he would be damned if someone overheard this and-

“I think Obito suits you better.”

Tobi doesn’t flinch at that, but he also knew that Sakumo couldn’t see the scowl that crossed his face. “What do you want?” He finally asked.

“I thought that was obvious,” Sakumo replied, brow raising.

“To bring me back to Konoha? To collect my bounty?” Although, even as he said that he wasn’t really sure if he had one or not. He was pretty damn sure, though, that Konoha didn’t know he was going around talking with Kage and tracking down missing-nin to try and kill of the spawn of a goddess who would destroy the world as they know it.

“Well, we would like to have you come back with us to Konoha,” Sakumo hummed. “See, I talked with the Hokage and the Uchiha. They have no idea who you are.”

Tobi didn’t react to that. It wasn’t surprising that Sakumo had gathered that much.

“They’re pretty interested to talk with you and find out,” Sakumo continued after a moment. “Especially after I told them I found you unconscious in Lightening surrounded by unnaturally grown plants.”

_That_ gave him pause. Had his mokuton reacted to the fact he was recently shoved out of the afterlife? If so, why? Still, as interesting as it was, and as interested as he was sure Konoha would be in that, he was also sure that wasn’t the truth. “I’m an unknown Uchiha,” he huffed out, crossing his arms. “With moktuon,” he added, almost as an afterthought. “I’m sure they’d like to do a lot more than just _talk_.”

Sakumo shrugged at that, “I get the feeling you wouldn’t let them.”

“No,” he conceded, “I wouldn’t.”

“So then tell me,” Sakumo said, “why didn’t you just leave after those Iwa-nin attacked us? Why go with us to camp?”

“A good shinobi keeps they’re lies going until the end.”

Sakumo shook his head, “Then why tell me anything about your sharingan?”

“How do you know I was telling the truth?”

“We’ve been tracking you for months, Obito.” Sakumo offered a humored smile, “You really think we haven’t noticed how you disappearing without a trace connects to those eyes of yours?”

Fair enough. Not that he was about to _tell_ him that, though.

The silence stretched out between them, and Obito let his attention slip briefly towards Kakuzu, making sure he was still there.

“Why are you tracking him?”

“What?”

“Kakuzu,” Sakumo clarified.

“You really think I would tell you?”

Sakumo shrugged, “It was worth a try.”

Obito couldn’t help but snort at that. Really, the famed White Fang should be better at this whole interrogation thing.

“Why did you look at me like you saw a ghost?” Sakumo asked after they lapsed once more into a length of silence.

Obito stiffened for a moment at the question, before he forced himself to relax, hoping Sakumo hadn’t seen. It was a useless hope, he realized. Sakumo was looking at him with a sharp gaze and calculating eyes and Obito really would rather not have to answer.

He rose to his feet instead, “If you want to know why I’m tracking him so badly, then why don’t you act like a shinobi and eavesdrop.” And with that he stalked over towards where Kakuzu was counting money.

The next time he ran into Sakumo the man was on a courier mission, and his team was being attacked by a group of ROOT agents dressed as Iwa-nin. Tobi looked at the scene for a long moment, contemplating whether or not he should bother stepping in when one of the nin got a little too close to taking out Kushina. With burst of chakra that he sent the tree he was sitting on roots burst from the ground around the group and speared several of the fake Iwa-nin. The remaining few where taken out easily enough after that. And Tobi only bothered to stick around long enough to make sure there weren’t any others before letting kamui swallow him.

He pointedly ignored Sakumo’s shout of, “Obito!”

And the way Kushina had started to make her way towards his tree.

A month went by without seeing them and Tobi decided it was about time he made his appearance in Konoha. If only because he needed start getting on top of Danzo and Orochimaru. They’d already been warned about Zetsu, after all – from Sakumo’s eavesdropping on his conversation with Kakuzu. Rin could forgive him for going back too soon if it meant taking out them, he thought.

He appeared in the Hokage office in a flourish of kamui, and Tobi really, really wondered what god he had to piss off in order to get his level of luck. (Kaguya. The answer was Kaguya. And probably the Sage and Shinigami too, if he was being honest.

Or maybe it was just Rin.)

Sakumo, Kushina, and Tsume and her nin-kin all looked at him with varying degrees of surprise and… was that excitement? Sarutobi looked from him to his shinobi and back before waving off the ANBU with a weary sigh that Tobi felt to his bones.

“Obito,” Sakumo greeted, offering him a smile. “So, you finally decided to drop by.”

“It would seem so,” he muttered, not letting himself take a step back.

“The question is, to what do we owe this visit?” Sarutobi asked, lighting his pipe.

Tobi rocked on his heels, “I came by to help you get rid of some… weeds.”

“What do you mean, Obito?” Sakumo asked.

(Why do you keep saying that name, he wanted to scream. Can’t you see that I’m not Obito right now? That I’m Tobi?)

And so he told them.

Told them about Danzo and how he was stirring up the borders with his ROOT agents – sacrificing them to start the war sooner. Told them of his seals and his plans to try and kill the Hokage. His plans to help Hanzo in Ame. Told them of Orochimaru and his experimentation on children. Told them of his labs and where to find them and that the snake had no plans to stop. Told them that Danzo had sanctioned it all, had told the snake it was for a good cause, but that Orochimaru took it even further on his own. (He didn’t know for certain if that was completely true yet in this dimension, in this time, but he hardly cared because it _would_ be true if they didn’t stop it now; _was_ true for him.)

When he was done the others were blank faced and ridged.

He left in a whirl of kamui. Let them deal with these truths on their own.

Obito appeared in the depths of Orochimaru’s labs; stalked through them until he’d hunted down every vial of Hashirama’s cells and then sent them to his dimension to be burned later.

A week went by and he’d burned the cells before sweeping their aches over the edge of one of the grey pillars in his dimension. He’d also visited every available potential source of information on Zetsu only to come out with the slightest hint that he may have been seen somewhere around Taki. Which brought him to the Mountain Graveyard. To say that he would rather be elsewhere was an understatement, but he didn’t exactly have a choice, because if Zetsu _was_ here…

Tobi couldn’t give up that chance. He, really, truly couldn’t.

The cave was silent as he entered, not even his steps made a sound. The darkening blood of Madara and his rotted body still decorated one corner, and Tobi absently wondered how long it would take for rodents to eat all of his bones. He spared a moment of frustration at the fact Madara wouldn’t be able to feel it before moving on.

The rest of the first cave, however, was empty. The shadows were thick enough, though, that he made sure to check every single one – just in case.

Still, he found nothing.

He took a breath and he grew forest just to watch it burn.

Through the smoldering ash and smoke a figure flickering down into a path that led deep into the earth and Tobi followed because there was nothing else he could do. Zetsu was here and he made a promise to Rin. Promised her that he would do better. That he would change. That he would destroy Madara and Zetsu and stop the moon-eye plan for good.

So he followed.

“It was you,” Zetsu spoke from the shadows, or maybe the walls themselves. “You took the statue.”

“I did,” he said, smug and full of anticipation.

“It’s the eyes.” Zetsu said, but it was more for them than for him and Tobi didn’t bother hiding the clench of his fists. “We need to take them.”

“Not a chance.”

“We’ll see about that.”

And then the world was shifting because roots burst from below and boulders fell from above and all at once Tobi-who-was-really-no-longer-Tobi was no longer in the cave but in his dimension, his knees hitting a pillar as he threw his mask off and let out a scream that was silent. Tobi-who-was-no-longer-Tobi-but-didn’t-know-what-that-made-him screamed and clutched his hair as his frame wracked with the aftershocks of reliving one of his worst nightmares.

Later.

Much later.

When his limbs stopped shaking and his legs could stand he pulled himself towards the ruined flak jacket and picked at the lose threads and dried blood. Later, he tore off his clothes and burned them because they were covered in small bits of dust and rubble from the collapsing ceiling and from the forest he burned.

He let out a breath through his nose and swept the ashes over the edge of his pillars and wondered how long it would take – how much he would have to burn – before the ashes managed to reach him.

He let out another breath and went to hunt down his orange mask – there was still work to be done, after all. But at least now he knew that he had Zetsu’s attention and that was _something,_ right?

Tobi met Jiraiya on a Wednesday. Not that the day of the week was particularly important, but he felt that he should start taking note of what days his luck ran out on so he may avoid trying anything on them in the future.

Jiraiya found him in a small tea shop tucked away in the northern outskirts of Lightening. He’d been there for only a few hours, but it was all the time he needed to know Zetsu was nowhere in sight. Probably had never been there in the first place. He was chasing gossip and hearsay and probably rumors that Zetsu themselves started, but he hardly cared.

“Obito,” Jiraiya started with, and the name left him frowning, “or do you prefer Tobi?”

He didn’t bother responding.

“Obito it is then,” the man announced, waving down a waitress and ordering a bottle of sake even as he shamelessly flirted with the woman. When she finally escaped – because what else could he call the way she all but fled? – Jiraiya turned back to him, his expression serious. “Look, I’m not one to believe in impossible things, and your whole story about a shadow trying to destroy the world seemed pretty impossible.”

Tobi contemplated the merits of killing the man.

“But for some reason sensei and Sakumo trust you,” Jiraiya went on. “Not to mention you somehow roped in Kushina and Minato too.”

That was news. He hadn’t realized Minato had been told. But then again, Kushina had probably mentioned something. And if that was true then Fugaku and Mikoto would have been brought into the loop as well – if not because they were close friends, then because they were the heads of the Uchiha clan.

“So I figured I might as well see what all this was about.”

Tobi held back a sigh.

“If you can convince me you’re not insane, I’ll help.”

Tobi blinked, slow and thoughtful because having Jiraiya on his side would mean a whole new wealth of information at his fingertips. “Sakumo sent you?”

“He didn’t _send_ me exactly,” Jiraiya explained, “but he said you’d be a good contact to have.”

“Alright.” He leaned back, “But listen close. I’m only saying this once.”

The next time he met Sakumo he was on a road near the edges of fire-country trying to track down Kakuzu again – he’d paid the bastard to be in a town five miles back and he hadn’t shown up. Which either meant he wasn’t interested in the rest of the cash – fat chance – that Zetsu had gotten to him – potentially – or that he’d found the trail of a high-ranking missing-nin – most likely. Whichever it was it meant that Tobi was making his way down the road trying to track his wayward contact down.

There was movement in the trees to his right and it was all the warning he got before the several chakra signatures that he’d been tracking the path of landed a few feet ahead of him. “Obito!” Sakumo called out, all smiles and good cheer.

Tobi tilted his head, taking in their slightly dirty states and came to the conclusion they must have completed a mission. “Hello.” His throat itched as he spoke – he hadn’t needed to say much of anything for the past few weeks and hadn’t given much thought to it. Hadn’t really cared.

“Have you found Zetsu yet?” Kushina asked. And for a moment all Tobi saw was her strung up with chains as he pried the seal on her stomach open and ripped out the nine-tails.

“I haven’t.”

“Oh,” Kushina seemed to deflate slightly, glancing at her teammates.

It was Tsume who spoke, head held high as she none-too-subtly scented the air, “Would you care for some company then? We’re one of the best tracking teams in Konoha, perhaps we can help?”

Sakumo looked over at her and they locked eyes. A conversation that he couldn’t even begin to pick apart went between them with that look. (A part of him, one that he made sure was buried deep, ached at the easy companionship. Ached at the thought that, in a different world, he would have had that with Rin and Kakashi.)

It was on the tip of his tongue to shoot down her offer. It was on the tip of his tongue to turn them away because he’d been trying to track Zetsu for so long now, how would they possibly help? But what came out took with it something he thought he was above letting have control, “Okay.”

“Great!” Kushina exclaimed, bouncing forward, and taking his arm in her hands. He couldn’t help the small flinch at that touch even if he tried – it’d been far too long since someone touched him out of anything other than the intent to hurt that… Well, he hardly blamed himself. It was instinct. It helped him survive, and he wouldn’t hold that against himself. Kushina didn’t say anything about it, and neither do the others, even if they clearly noticed. “We should make camp for the night and you can fill us in on what you know so far. Jiraiya hasn’t found anything that we know of, but Sarutobi has ordered everyone taking missions to be on the lookout.”

Later that night Obito sat by the fire detailing where he had searched and what he knew. Giving them the briefest report he could on his encounter with Zetsu in the Mountain Graveyard and that the shadow clearly was going to be coming after his eyes – he just needed to bide his time.

Even later than that, Obito sat with Sakumo on watch, staring into the darkness of the forest around them.

“Why were you unconscious in Lightening?” Sakumo asked, and with how reminiscent it all was of that first night he’d discovered he was in the past he felt like maybe he should leave. He didn’t.

“I don’t know.” He answered after a moment and found that it was the truth. He didn’t know. Because Rin didn’t _have_ to send him here. Didn’t have to push him out of the pureland. If they had wanted someone to save the world they could have picked anyone else – Naruto or Sasuke would have bene better choices, they were the chosen ones, right? Why weren’t they here instead?

Sakumo was perceptive enough to realize that what he’d asked was bigger than he first thought, and he pulled back. Obito would never admit to how thankful he was.

“How’s Konoha?” Obito asked, because he couldn’t ask how Rin was, or Kakashi, or Minato. Couldn’t ask what he wanted to.

Sakumo eyed him for a moment, weighing that question and his answers, “Konoha is handling the war as well as can be expected.” The man looked off into the woods, a frown tugging at his lips for the first time that evening, “The village is strong. We’ll pull through.”

“And you?”

“What?”

“How are you?” He remembered, if vaguely and in the way one would recall a part of history briefly passed over in a lecture, that Sakumo had killed himself because of a failed mission that was used as a scapegoat to explain the greed of those in power. At one point, he knew, he had considered the White Fang a hero for this fact. For choosing his comrades – his _friends._

“I’m… fine,” Sakumo offered, clearly thrown off by the question, but that was okay, Obito didn’t expect a truthful response either way.

Two nights later they’ve followed the border along towards Tenchi bridge, Kakuzu still nowhere in sight.

“Do you think Zetsu got to him?” Tsume asked, her hand fisted into the fur of her companion as they sat around the fire.

Obito shrugged, “Maybe.”

“You don’t seem that concerned,” the woman observed.

“Kakuzu is hard to kill,” he offered, “if Zetsu got to him we probably would have felt the battle.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know.”

Tsume hummed, before offering the rest of her ration bar to her nin-kin.

“How do you know about Zetsu anyway?” Kushina asked.

Obito stiffened at that, tilting his head and looking at her with a frown she couldn’t see behind his mask, “He’s the reason I have mokuton.”

“So he experimented on you,” Tsume said, “doesn’t explain how you know his goals.”

“He wanted to use me to achieve them.” He voice came out flat and dry. “Put a seal over my heart to keep me loyal and killed everyone I cared about.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Sakumo told him, soft and like it mattered. Obito’s spine snapped up at those words, his fists clenching. No one had-. Even after Rin died, none of those white-zetsu clones had-. Obito took a breath.

“A seal over your heart?” Kushina prompted, voice soft for all that it was curious.

He shrugged, it mattered little now what he did or did not tell them – it was all true and false in one and in the end they’d never be able to prove it either way. “It would kill me if I betrayed him.”

Kushina frowned, “A curse seal then.”

“How’d you survive that?” Tsume raised both brows.

“A lightening jutsu through my chest destroyed it when it blew up my heart.”

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not.”

“You should be dead!” Kushina exclaimed.

Obito could only hum, “More than you know.”

“Well, we’re glad you’re not,” Sakumo told him, offering a soft smile. Obito stared at the expression for a moment, wondering if someone had added a log to the fire – the world hadn’t been that bright a moment ago, had it?

“Really, flirting, Hatake?” Tsume snorted out.

On the third day the team sent a message back to the Hokage explaining why they hadn’t returned from their mission as planned. By the seventh Obito had taken to slipping his mask off as he slept, although he pulled his cloak high enough to cover much of his lower face. When the second week came and went, and they were still _there_ Obito finally stopped seeing blood every time he looked at Kushina. By the third week Sakumo was talking about Kakashi and Tsume was talking about her little cub who had been born in the last few months. Kushina spoke about Minato and her dream to take on the mantle of Hokage. By the middle of the third week Tsume’s nin-kin, Kuromaru had taken to curling against his back at night. By the fifth he didn’t even bother wearing his mask at all. It was also during the fifth week that he realized with a start that Sakumo had been away from Kakashi for well over a month.

“You should go back,” he told them, “you’ve been gone for five weeks.”

“We haven’t found Zetsu yet,” Kushina argued back, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes. It reminded all too keenly of when he was nothing but a fresh-out-of-the-academy genin and she would barge into their practices.

He shook his head, “What about your families?”

_That_ made them pause, and he wasn’t blind enough go miss the way they looked a bit wistfully towards the direction of their home. The three of them locked gazes soon after and had one of those silent-eye-conversations that Obito still hadn’t managed to fully crack. “Alright,” Tsume agreed, “we’ll go back.”

“But on one condition,” Kushina continued.

“You come with us,” Sakumo finished.

He took them back to Konoha through kamui, and as they appear outside the gates they all look at him with wide eyes. The silence and looks lasted a long moment before Tsume let out a snort of amusement and promptly demanded that he join her for all her missions if he could do something like _that._

They headed to the Hokage first and the man only gave a weary sigh before agreeing to let Obito stay until another lead for Zetsu made itself known.

Paperwork was pulled out and shuffled around and Obito really should have suspected something but Sakumo was looking at him and smiling and talking about how he needed to meet Kakashi and the boy’s teammates, and his little friend Tenzo. There was a paper shoved at him and he signed it with hardly a glance because Kushina’s babble about ramen and Mikoto and Minato left him dazed. Tsume looked smug and satisfied and muttered something about pack and he was too busy being pushed out the door to really catch how he factored into all of that.

A week went by and Obito spent most of it in an emotional haze because that was easier than exploring the aching in his chest at seeing all the people he had loved and lost. A week went by and he was shuffled between all three of their households. A week went by and Mikoto finally got her claws into him, all but dragging him towards the Uchiha compound and demanding to know who he was.

Demanding to know the truth.

He’d known her for all of an hour and a half in this dimension.

He told her almost everything.

Because she was also one of the only adults to ever look at him like he was worth something when he was nothing more than an orphaned Uchiha boy living on the outskirts of the district. Because she was also the only one in his clan besides little Shisui who asked how he was and _really_ wanted to know.

She listened to it all – all his half-told truths and muddled explanations.

“Oh, Obito,” she said at the end, kneeling before him as she took his hand, “I’m so sorry.”

She was the second person to tell him that.

“But you’re home now.”

He didn’t tell her that he still didn’t know what that word meant.

Obito was going to strangle Sakumo.

He was going to strangle him with his bare hands in the middle of the academy courtyard and _no one_ would blame him. “ _What_ did you call me?”

Sakumo blinked at him, either not sensing his impending death or simply not caring, “Do you not like it, darling?”

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Mikoto muffling her laughter into her hand.

“No,” he hissed, using all his willpower to try and keep the burning in his cheeks at bay.

From the satisfied glint in Sakumo’s eyes he’d failed.

He turned on his heel to leave, only to be blocked by Tsunade who was looking at him with amusement and a fire he recognized all too well as the sign she was looking for a fight. “How about a rematch, little birdie?”

He drew up short in his confusion, “Little… birdie?”

“That name you used when we first met,” Tsunade explained, examining her nails as she did so, “it means to fly, right?”

Tobi slipped into Orochimaru’s hideout with ease. He’d left Konoha a week prior to try and scrounge up any possible leads – jumping from contact to contact with the hope that even just _one_ of them would have heard a rumor. He still had to check in with Suna and Iwa, but they could wait until after his little pit-stop in roping the snake into his man-hunt too. (Was it really a man-hunt if the creature he was after was exactly that, a _creature_?)

Orochimaru, unsurprisingly, was curled over a metal table looking at something on a petri-dish. The air smelt like burnt flesh and anti-septic. Even through his mask it was stifling.

“Orochimaru.” He greeted, enjoying the way the man froze for a the briefest of seconds – something he wouldn’t have caught had his sharingan not been activated.

The snake turned slow, placing down his instruments precisely, “And who are you?”

“A little birdie,” he snorted.

“You know, it’s hard to find test-subjects these days. And now you’ve all but fallen into my lap, how nice.” The snake said it with the same tone one would use to talk about the weather.

Tobi hummed, “Let’s make a deal.”

“That’s not how this works.”

He ignored that, running his hand along a table – not a speck of dust, he noted. “I’ll help you become a Kage of your own village, and you’ll help me track down a pest.”

That earned him a raised brow, the snake crossing their arms and leaning back against their worktable. “I’m listening.”

A day later Tobi slinked towards the Kazekage’s office, storage scroll in hand and was just about to interrupt the Kage’s meeting when there was a rather massive spike of chakra. It was jounin level at _least_ and filled to the brim with killing intent. An invasion then? Or a spy?

The chakra was familiar, though; in the way a memory was.

He debated making a detour to see exactly what the commotion was about, but the decision was taken out of his hands as the Kazekage himself sped from his meeting room. He held back a sigh and followed. Ducking around a building, up a set of stairs and then taking the wall to the roof, he paused there to get a clear view of things.

Sasori was in the middle of a group of other jounin, his expression twisted into fury and something that Tobi himself saw in the mirror from time to time. The redhead spit out a few insults before sending his puppets into the gathered shinobi. It was an impressive – if one-sided – fight. The other jounin and ANBU were all down within minutes. It reminded him of why, exactly, Konan had decided to seek the man out. (It, also consequently, reminded him of how absolutely terrifying Konan could be. If he remembered correctly, she had beaten him without getting so much as a _scratch._ Although, that was to be expected, he supposed. She had, after all, almost killed _him_. If it hadn’t been for him stealing that other sharingan… Well, maybe the world would have been better off if she had, but that was a train of thought for another time.)

The Kazekage joined the fray then. Sasori finally being forced to take the defensive. But it wasn’t until the redhead started shouting about bringing back his dead parents – about bringing back _everyone_ – and the secrets to immortality that Tobi really started to pay attention. Things like that… those were impossible things. Promises and whispers and dreams that snuck in and consumed you and if Sasori was made to believe they were possible… Not just _probable_ but _possible_ through other means than puppetry…

He let his senses expand outward but sensed nothing of use. Suna was a _desert._ Zetsu knew he had mokuton. It would make perfect sense that the shadow wouldn’t take their chances in the woods or near plants in any sense of the term – too much of a chance Tobi may find him. So heading to a desert was really his best bet, and… well, with a war there was no shortage of potential powerful shinobi to be manipulated.

Really, he was just disappointed he hadn’t thought of all of this sooner.

Sasori, of course, escaped. But that wasn’t to say that he wasn’t being pursued, Suna shinobi and Tobi’s own wood clones alike were hot on his heels. And while he knew it was unlikely that Zetsu would appear to the redhead so soon after his defection – precautions and all – there was still a chance. Besides, if he knew where Sasori was, kept an eye on him long enough, then Zetsu would be bound to appear at some point.

Delivering the supplies to the Kazekage later that afternoon revealed his suspicions to be true. Zetsu _had_ come to Suna – had been whispering promises from the shadows and from that grew rumors. It just seemed that Sasori had been the one to finally give in and believe them.

The thing was, Tobi thought as he let kamui bring him to where his clones were, Zetsu _could_ actually keep the promises. Just not in the way one would expect or be necessarily _happy_ with. Unless, of course, one was actually happy with only the illusion of their loved ones and family. (He had been, at one point. Even if he _had_ started to doubt the plan, doubt Zetsu, he never let it show. Never stopped because he _couldn’t._ All those deaths and everything he had already done had to have mattered for _something._ )

He let himself ponder these thoughts as he tracked Sasori for a few days. Zetsu didn’t appear, but he hadn’t really expected the pest to. It wasn’t until he realized they were heading to Fire Country that he started to wonder what sort of plan Zetsu had really hatched here.

He should have put more thought into figuring it out, he realized as a _very_ familiar set of three chakra signatures brushed his senses. Three chakra signatures that Sasori was heading _right for._ He really, _really_ should have put more thought into it. But in that moment he didn’t exactly have time for regrets.

No. He was far, far too busy jumping into a fight against a practical army of white-zetsu clones, Zetsu themselves, and Sasori.

Later.

Much, _much_ later – when he was sure that Kushina wasn’t going to die and they were also very much convinced _he_ wasn’t going to die – he finally sat down and talked over Zetsu’s plans.

“So, let me get this straight,” Tsume huffed. “Zetsu wanted your eyes to take back a statue that you stole.”

“A statue that can contain _all_ nine biju and create the ten-tails.” He supplied helpfully.

“Yes,” Sakumo said weakly, staring at the fire they had lit to cook dinner like it was world-altering, “that statue.”

“And they planned to use that statue to put the entire world under a genjutsu and unseal a goddess that is trapped in the moon.”

“Kaguya. The mother of chakra.”

“Who would destroy the world by taking back all the chakra in it.” Tsume was scowling as she continued, “So Zetsu decided to what? Kill two birds with one stone by capturing us in order to lure you into a rescue mission?”

“They’d have the kyubi, his eyes, _and_ the statue,” Sakumo pointed out. “Three birds.”

Obito shrugged, “Four birds, really. Sakumo, you killed Sasori’s parents, by giving him the chance to have his revenge it would ensure he was loyal to them. It would also prove they’d come through on their promises.”

“And what am I? Chopped liver?” Tsume snorted, arms crossing.

“You _want_ that creepy shadow-thing after you?” Kushina asked with a raised brow, but the curve of her lips was all laughter.

Tsume raised her chin, “All I’m saying is that it’d be nice to be appreciated.”

They stared at each other for a long moment, eyes locking as humor and relief and the aftermath of adrenaline washed over them. And all at once they were laughing. Shoulders shaking with the force of it as it burst out of them all. For a moment Obito thought that it would shake the very earth beneath their feet.

They’d _won._

Zetsu was _gone._

Kaguya would never resurrect. The moon-eye plan would never come to be.

_‘Rin,’_ he thought, desperate and light-headed, _‘are you watching?’_


End file.
